Within the context of supplying oxygen to gasification processes, the consumption of impure oxygen (typically of the order of 95 mol %) which is pressurized (typically 50 bara and above) is accompanied by a consumption of pressurized nitrogen for the gasifier and for the associated gas turbine.
When the client recycles all of the available pressurized nitrogen, layouts with a pressurized low-pressure column make it possible to obtain a good oxygen separation energy. A low-pressure column is said to be “pressurized” when it operates at a pressure of greater than 2 bar abs.